RED Tractor Assurance is urging farmers to engage in a consultation in January on how its farm standards should evolve.

A consultation will open on January 5 2021 with proposals put forward on how the standards should look across the scheme’s six sectors; beef and lamb, poultry, pigs, dairy, fresh produce and combinable crops and sugar beet.

Red Tractor is seeking input from across the industry before finalising the proposals of what the schemes standards will be from November 2021.

The proposals have been developed over 12 months, with representatives from across the food chain- including farming organisations, farmers, vets, processors and retailers- involved in every step of the process.

Together they have studied consumer trends, reviewed the latest science and evidence, as well as benchmarked the scheme against competitors and industry best practice.

Red Tractor CEO Jim Moseley said: “We are a proven world leader in food chain assurance, but we cannot rest on our laurels. Consumers’ needs and expectations change and grow. Our standards must evolve to meet them.”

Red Tractor are the champions of British food, farming and consumer safety.

They are the UK's largest food standards scheme providing links between farming, processing, packing and distribution, with 46,000 British farmers and major supermarkets working to their world leading standards.

This year the scheme celebrates its 20th anniversary.Inspections are only carried out by independent companies to ensure they are completely impartial.